Sy. Hill et al., Factors predicting the onset of adolescent drinking in families at high risk for developing alcoholism, BIOL PSYCHI, 48(4), 2000, pp. 265-275
Background: With a longitudinal prospective design, the purpose of this stu
dy was 1) to assess, with survival analysis, the age of onset of drinking i
n relation to family history of alcoholism; 2) to examine the importance of
selected neurobiological and psychosocial risk factors in predicting the o
nset to drink; and 3) to determine if the age of onset of substance depende
nce problems differed by risk group status.
Methods: One hundred twenty-five children and adolescents were evaluated an
nually (N = 638 evaluations), providing up to seven annual waves of longitu
dinal data, Survival analyses were performed to determine the age of onset
of regular drinking and the age of onset for substance abuse/dependence. Th
e age of onset of regular drinking outcome was modeled using familial densi
ty of alcoholism and four factors, which included neurobiological indices o
f development (postural sway and P300), personality characteristics, academ
ic achievement, self-esteem, and trait anxiety.
Results: High-risk children/adolescents showed a significantly earlier age
of onset of drinking and an earlier age of onset for substance abuse proble
ms. Familial density of alcoholism predicted an earlier onset of drinking,
as did having deficits in reading achievement, reduced P300 (visual and aud
itory), and greater postural sway for age. Higher scores on the Extraversio
n scale of the Junior version of the Eysenck Personality Inventory also pre
dicted an earlier onset of drinking.
Conclusions: Familial density of alcoholism (number of alcoholic first- and
second-degree relatives) is an important predictor of adolescent alcohol i
nitiation, Evidence is presented suggesting that part of the familial/genet
ic variation in outcome may be due to neurobiological factors and temperame
nt, (C) 2000 Society of Biological Psychiatry.